Page 174 of Under the Bed

His eyebrows are pulled down, his entire body working to free himself from me.

How. About. No.

I shove my middle and index finger into his eyes. Pushing them as far as they’d go. The squelching sounds and blood seeping down his cheeks don’t bother me. I’m proud of myself for finally doing something significant to help Kaleb, other than handling the police detectives.

I’ve been standing on the sidelines for too long. Have allowed others to dictate what I can or cannot do for him.

Those days are over. Gone.

I hook my fingers inside Eddy’s eye sockets, flipping my wrist.

Something tears inside of him as he screams. Another wave of blood gushes out.

He’s grown quiet. Death has taken him.

“At last, we’re alone,” Crew says, his voice hoarse.

I pull my fingers out of Eddy, stepping back and letting his lifeless body drop to the floor. Then I twist to the idiot who’s actually happy to be here, the one Kaleb holds up by his throat.

“Excuse me?” I ask. Kaleb’s warmth washes over me as I come to stand closer to him. He leans into me, the latex of his mask pressing to the top of my head.

It’s the sweetest kiss.

“Y-your dad paid me to stay away.” Crew’s eyes bulge. His lips turn a darker shade of blue. “I run an indie news blog. You might’ve heard of me—Hyatt Holiday. I dug up information about you, and your dad gave me a shit ton of money to take it all down. To stop stalking you. We can work around the deal I made with him. If you give me your permission, it doesn’t count as stalking, does it?”

As much as I hate to admit it, I need him alive for a few more seconds.

He holds information that we’re missing. About my father. Maybe about an accomplice, someone who’s waiting for him on the outside.

Kaleb and I have to know what we’re up against. We have to cover all our bases after we kill the building’s security anddestroy the tapes. Yeah, it’s unfortunate that the guard will have to lose his life.

What other choice do we have?

None.

Kaleb tenses when I place my hand on his shoulder. Relaxes when I remove my glove, shove it in my bra, and stroke his arm. He looks at me through his mask, asking for my take on this.

“Let the man talk.”Then we can kill him.“I’ll never turn down a good deal.”

A grunt. Then he lets go of Crew’s throat, not letting go, not really. Kaleb threads his fingers through Crew’s hair and tugs.

“Okay, okay. Cool. I get it. I won’t waste your time.” Crew slants his blue eyes at me. They’re no longer bulging. For a little while. “Thank you.”

Kaleb shakes Crew’s head. Violently.

“Right. Don’t piss off the obsessed stepbrother.” The psycho grins up at Kaleb, the smile splitting his face in half. “So. I couldn’t fucking believe my eyes when it was the two of you, when you walked into the clinic today. Like, how lucky could one person get?”

We could be here all night, listening to him drooling over us. His excitement pours from him, smelling worse than the blood and death surrounding us.

Not interested.

“You’re after an interview?” I veer the conversation to where I want it to go.

“Yes. Yes. I’d pay for it. Your father wired 50K into my account. You can have every cent.”

Apparently, my dad has been busy talking to everyone else except me.

Kaleb told me that my dad had called on that first night he visited me. That he’d deleted the call. It hadn’t changed a thing between us.

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